I guess it is...
This time next week I will be back in the US and my LGO internship will be complete. Well, at least the working in an office part will be complete. The thesis writing part might take an extra day or two. Ha.
I am excited for a... hold your breath... 5 week break before there are any requirements for me to be back on the MIT campus. The first 2 1/2 weeks will be spent celebrating the holidays in California. 10 days in Northern California followed by 7 days in Southern California will offer everything a girl could want after 6 months in Germany... warmer winter weather, English, In-N-Out Burger, American football.
First, though, I must get through this last week of my LGO internship... (aka. The Time When Jo Sees How Many Places She Can See in Europe in 6 Months).
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
It's confirmed; German's are as crazy football fans as you think!
On Saturday night Drew and I went to see the Eintracht Frankfurt football (soccer) team play in Frankfurt against Mainz. It was absolutely insane, but... I. Loved. It.
There's no denying the fact that I am a crazy sports fan. I jump up and down in front of the TV screaming when both good and bad things happen. I even set my alarm to get up at 3 AM on a Sunday earlier this football season so that I could watch the big USC/OSU game. BUT, the German fan's are for real.
I have some photos and videos in my Picasa Albums linked on the right that barely do it justice. But, here is my attempt to list my top 5 favorite experiences while at the game:
5. Police. In riot gear. Yeah, for real. Apparently it was a big rivalry game and they were prepared for craziness to ensue pre and post game time. For good and bad, I did not witness any riot gear in use.
4. The Rowdy Section. Standing room only. Die hard fans. Flags required. (There were flags in the stands seriously 20 feet tall!) I am sure you must be able to sing/chant every cheer (see #2) to get in. And, I am also pretty sure that you need to consume a minimum of 4 beers before entering. This kinda reminds me of the student section at USC football games, except then when we were under 21 drinking it actually was not legal. ;)
3. Finish a beer bottle? Throw it down the stairs. I don't totally understand it, but they did it.
2. Cheers: we all do it and we do it for the ENTIRE game. Seriously it was non stop cheering and it was loud, and it was AWESOME. I only learned the cheer for the score, it goes something like this:
Announcer: Eintracht Frankfurt
Crowd: Zwei
Announcer: Mainz
Crowd: Null
Announcer: Danke
Crowd: Bitte
I LOVE IT.
1. Fireworks... in the stands. Everyone loves a good fireworks display and my favorite holidays are those that include fireworks. So, why not bring it up close and personal... like IN THE STANDS. The Mainz fans set off some bright red lights in the middle of their rowdy section. And the security guards didn't even care!
My one regret? We didn't go to a game sooner. I could totally buy into this crazy football fan action in Germany. ;)
There's no denying the fact that I am a crazy sports fan. I jump up and down in front of the TV screaming when both good and bad things happen. I even set my alarm to get up at 3 AM on a Sunday earlier this football season so that I could watch the big USC/OSU game. BUT, the German fan's are for real.
I have some photos and videos in my Picasa Albums linked on the right that barely do it justice. But, here is my attempt to list my top 5 favorite experiences while at the game:
5. Police. In riot gear. Yeah, for real. Apparently it was a big rivalry game and they were prepared for craziness to ensue pre and post game time. For good and bad, I did not witness any riot gear in use.
4. The Rowdy Section. Standing room only. Die hard fans. Flags required. (There were flags in the stands seriously 20 feet tall!) I am sure you must be able to sing/chant every cheer (see #2) to get in. And, I am also pretty sure that you need to consume a minimum of 4 beers before entering. This kinda reminds me of the student section at USC football games, except then when we were under 21 drinking it actually was not legal. ;)
3. Finish a beer bottle? Throw it down the stairs. I don't totally understand it, but they did it.
2. Cheers: we all do it and we do it for the ENTIRE game. Seriously it was non stop cheering and it was loud, and it was AWESOME. I only learned the cheer for the score, it goes something like this:
Announcer: Eintracht Frankfurt
Crowd: Zwei
Announcer: Mainz
Crowd: Null
Announcer: Danke
Crowd: Bitte
I LOVE IT.
1. Fireworks... in the stands. Everyone loves a good fireworks display and my favorite holidays are those that include fireworks. So, why not bring it up close and personal... like IN THE STANDS. The Mainz fans set off some bright red lights in the middle of their rowdy section. And the security guards didn't even care!
My one regret? We didn't go to a game sooner. I could totally buy into this crazy football fan action in Germany. ;)
Sunday, December 6, 2009
How I Plan to ENJOY Documentation
So, it turns out I REALLY do not like to document things. I find it boring. I love to create something new and exciting and "solve a problem" but if I have to WRITE about it, I become unhappy pretty quickly. I have had to document a lot during the last 2 weeks at work (and for the remaining 2 weeks) and my fellow NV&D interns are getting instant messages from me nearly every hour complaining about how bored I am and posing questions such as "Why do none of my Facebook friends post updates when I am at work and looking for distractions?" On Wednesday evening, it got worse. I was in the taxi from Florence to Siena mulling over the next 2 days of training that I was doing for the inventory model I built when I suddenly realized that my thesis is a whole other type of documentation that will last til April! As a good friend of mine says, "Panic at the Disco!" Ok, I am being a bit dramatic, but this is what my life is right now.
Anyway, I kept pondering documentation for most of the taxi ride (yeah, really) and then it hit me... I love to blog. I like talking, I like typing, I like sharing my experiences, I actually really like to DOCUMENT MY LIFE. So, from that moment I decided to put aside my documentation complaints and approach documenting my inventory model and writing my thesis with the zeal I approach writing blog posts.
To my MIT thesis advisers,
I apologize if my thesis now reads something like this: After stressing over how to set up the calculations in the model so that they aren't obnoxious, I pulled out one of the books from my Supply Chain classes (a book that I am pretty sure I never read while I was actually IN class) and tried out method XYZ.... Method XYZ totally sucked, so next I decided to try method LMN and WooHoo! it worked, so that's why that method is in the inventory model.
On a side note: I really need to work on diversifying my transition words. I overuse the word "so."
Anyway, I kept pondering documentation for most of the taxi ride (yeah, really) and then it hit me... I love to blog. I like talking, I like typing, I like sharing my experiences, I actually really like to DOCUMENT MY LIFE. So, from that moment I decided to put aside my documentation complaints and approach documenting my inventory model and writing my thesis with the zeal I approach writing blog posts.
To my MIT thesis advisers,
I apologize if my thesis now reads something like this: After stressing over how to set up the calculations in the model so that they aren't obnoxious, I pulled out one of the books from my Supply Chain classes (a book that I am pretty sure I never read while I was actually IN class) and tried out method XYZ.... Method XYZ totally sucked, so next I decided to try method LMN and WooHoo! it worked, so that's why that method is in the inventory model.
On a side note: I really need to work on diversifying my transition words. I overuse the word "so."
Monday, November 16, 2009
And then there were 5.
5 weeks, that is.
I am back in Germany after 19 days wandering around the US. My flight arrived around 7 am this morning. It was actually pitch black outside when we landed... yes, at 7 am. I got to my apartment around 9:30 am and at that point wanted to climb into bed and sleep forever. But, I am mastering jet lag and know that a nap would be the worst thing to do. So, I actually went in to work and had a semi-productive day cleaning out e-mails and getting myself ready to power through the last 5 weeks. Now, I am trying to keep myself awake for 47 more minutes because I think going to bed before 8 pm would be a mistake. The fact that it was already almost dark by 5 pm has not helped this process, but I'm trying.
So, what's on the books for the next 5 weeks? Lots of stuff, actually...
... travel: there's still a number of places to see in Germany... Hamburg and Cinderalla's castle, and we also have a trip planned to Amsterdam
...Christmas Markets: this is a special trip Drew and I will take to Nurnberg because we have heard that the markets there are some of the best.
...finish my internship: got to work on documentation and training. And, most likely try to find some time to fly to both Italy and England again to train in person.
...get a job: I have some great opportunities already and I am super excited that I actually have a decision to make. Of course, the hard part for me is making the decision. But, I hope that when I sit down and really think about it, the answer will be easy.
With that, I've successfully wasted, errr, passed about 5 minutes. On to entertain myself in other ways.
I am back in Germany after 19 days wandering around the US. My flight arrived around 7 am this morning. It was actually pitch black outside when we landed... yes, at 7 am. I got to my apartment around 9:30 am and at that point wanted to climb into bed and sleep forever. But, I am mastering jet lag and know that a nap would be the worst thing to do. So, I actually went in to work and had a semi-productive day cleaning out e-mails and getting myself ready to power through the last 5 weeks. Now, I am trying to keep myself awake for 47 more minutes because I think going to bed before 8 pm would be a mistake. The fact that it was already almost dark by 5 pm has not helped this process, but I'm trying.
So, what's on the books for the next 5 weeks? Lots of stuff, actually...
... travel: there's still a number of places to see in Germany... Hamburg and Cinderalla's castle, and we also have a trip planned to Amsterdam
...Christmas Markets: this is a special trip Drew and I will take to Nurnberg because we have heard that the markets there are some of the best.
...finish my internship: got to work on documentation and training. And, most likely try to find some time to fly to both Italy and England again to train in person.
...get a job: I have some great opportunities already and I am super excited that I actually have a decision to make. Of course, the hard part for me is making the decision. But, I hope that when I sit down and really think about it, the answer will be easy.
With that, I've successfully wasted, errr, passed about 5 minutes. On to entertain myself in other ways.
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